UK/US Driving Licences

Factual Questions
1

Here in the UK you pass your driving test and your licence expires on your 70th birthday when you are then required to take a “mini” test sort of thing to determine if you are still capable of driving safely

If you pass your test in a manual shift car you are also licenced to drive an automatic shift, but if you pass in an auto you are not licenced to drive a manual shift until such time as you take and pass the test in that type of car.

We also have separate tests for HGV drivers (Heavy Goods Vehicles) and PSV drivers (Public Service Vehicles, buses, coaches etc)

I understand that Americans are required to take their test every year? but I wonder do the same restrictions apply to you guys, i.e manual/auto and do you also have separate tests dependant on the type of vehicle to be driven.

One last question, why was I not asked to show my UK licence when I hired a car in Chicago?

2

A you dont need to take the test every year, there is a good chance that after taking it one time you will never have to take it again.

your license does need to be renewed every 5 years but thats a simple fee (around 20$)

take the test in an automatic and you are licensed to drive a stick…even if you dont know how.

to give you some idea how easy the American test is, you parallel park one time, you do one 3 point turn (most states) and then you park on the street (again most states) the test takes 10-15 minutes and I am serious when I say a well trained monkey could pass. you never have to demonstrate the slightest bit of skill on the freeway or in decision making, the parking manouvers will be done in a quite neighborhood or the parking lot of the DOL (department of licensing)

we do have a separate test for lorries (semi’s or just trucks is what we call them) known as a CDL (comercial drivers license) and a separate test for motorcycles as well.
I teach drivers ed, my German and British students are hands down far superior drivers than their American counterparts, this inspite of the weird British insistance on not crossing the hands over the wheel (aka shuffle steering)

no idea why you didnt need to show your DL when you rented a car. the clerk was probably on crack.

3

I was told that the principle behind this is that at any time, you’re equally able to divert the steering in either direction, irrelevant in everyday driving but potentially very useful in an emergency. It only becomes ‘shuffle steering’ when people only move their hands up and down a few inches, rather than feeding substantial portions of the wheel through alternate hands.

4

A test every year? That would mean 200,000,000 tests! Half a million tests a day, I don’t think so.

I can’t speak for other states, but in Texas, a license (no difference between a stick shift and an automatic) the license is valid for six years and can be renewed online for $25. Compared to the UK test, it’s ridiculously easy to get a license here.

You’ll be glad to know that there are separate tests for commercial vehicles.

5

You don’t cross hands over the wheel because if you do your steering ability is severely impaired, the 10 past 10 position is the ideal one for driving.

I honestly thought you guys had to take a test every year, I now realise it’s just a licence renewal.

Our driving tests take about 20-30 mins and are very difficult. As well as your examples, we have:

  1. Reversing around a corner
  2. Emergency stop procedures
  3. Having to have full knowledge of The Highway Code
  4. Parking between 2 parked vehicles.
  5. A hill start

Plus other stuff

It took me 3 attempts before I passed, my late wife did it in 1 and never let me forget it

6

(WARNING: The following post is anecdotal in nature. Were this post to be pluralized, the resulting set would not constitute data. No scientfic research has been conducted in relation to this post, and no cites have been made readily available. Read further at your own risk.)

Heck, in some states, you can get one without ever taking a real road test.

In Virginia, at least, you can take a private (state-licensed) Driver’s Ed course instead of being tested by the Department of Motor Vehicles. The course includes classroom lessons, written tests on the rules of the road, and a set number of hours of driving practice. To give you an idea of the amount of training involved, I completed mine in two weeks of eight-hour-a-day, Monday-through-Friday classes; three of those days were dedicated to actual driving.

At the end of the course, the instructor is supposed to conduct a scored road test just as a DMV representative would, but speaking for every one of these programs I’ve personally seen, the test either doesn’t happen at all, or else the instructor is lenient far beyond the written allowance of mistakes. One of the guys in my class blew through a red light – without slowing down from his 8 MPH-over-the-limit speed – during his test; he got his license the same day I did. As for me, I’m pretty sure the following exchange comprised my “test”, though I certainly didn’t know it at the time.

Instructor: Roland, you’re a good driver; is there anything you feel uncomfortable with on the road?

Me: Not in particular, why?

Instructor: All right then. [Marks something down on a clipboard.]

Now, I like to think I was (and am) a defensive, safety-conscious driver, but I wouldn’t have minded having my mettle truly tested if it meant that I wouldn’t have to share the road with Captain What-Red-Light and his ilk, but alas, such are the times.

Strangely enough, of all the states in which I’ve driven, Virginia’s drivers strike me as some of the least insane. Go figure.

7

Yes, US drivers need to renew their actual licences every few years (actual time varies by state, I suspect) but their entitlement to drive remains until it is revoked for breaching some law, or occasionally on medical grounds - eg my wife, who passed a PA driving test but cannot drive because of her epilepsy.

This is the same as the photo licences in the UK. Mu UK licence expires in 2010, but my actual entitlement to drive is good until 2042, my 70th birthday. I suspect the renewal thing has more to do with ensuring that the picture remains a reasonable likeness.

If anyone seriously wonders why crossing hands on the wheel is a lousy idea, they should try riding a bicycle with hands crossed.

8

Forgot to note this - whenever I hired a car in the US, I was always asked to show my British licence. At the airport locations (Dallas and Washington Dulles) they had a reference book thing that told them how to check the validity of the most commonly-encountered foreign licences. They never seemed interested in the paper counterpart, though - whenever I offered that to them they waved it away.

9

When I was 17 I spent a summer in the US and got a licence so that I could drive around.

The actual driving test consisted of parking the car (just pulling into a spot, nothing difficult like backing into it). Then I drove for 2-3 minutes in a fenced in training area, stopping at signs etc. I never had to show that I could handle actual traffic with other cars around.

10

According to todays newspapers: soon young drivers will not be able to get a full licence until they are at least 18 years old.

They will be expected to gain 500 hours of road experience before being eligible to take their test, this compares with about 100 hours at present.

This new structure is soon to be unveiled.

11

I count myself a bit of an expert in this area having had licences from 6 different US states and the UK. At age 14 in Iowa (in 1978) I took a written test and got a learner’s permit which allowed me to drive with a parent or guardian. I don’t even think this person was required to know how to drive. At 15 in high school we had driver’s ed which was classroom instruction plus about 2 hours/week driving. The cars were all automatic. We did some pretty weird stuff such as stuck accelerator simulations and being able to get safely off the road coasting with a dead engine and no power steering/brakes. After passing the high school class I didn’t have to take a state-run test to get a full licence at 16.

When I moved to Missouri I had to take another written and driving test, plus simple eye exam. The driving test was trivial. Moving to Arkansas just required a new eye exam. Same for the move to Nebraska. I got a motorcycle licence here and this was a fairly comprehensive driving test in real traffic and included hill starts but no emergency stops. Moving to Kansas just required eye tests to transfer both licences. In Texas I just had to do the written test to transfer both licences again.

In 1995 I moved to Britian and people started telling me how difficult the exam was. I was one of the first groups to have to take the new theory exam, I found it dead easy. My company had paid to ship all my stuff to Britian when I transferred so I took my driving test in a 1991 Chevy Lumina Z34 (the one in the foreground here, about the same dimensions as a 7-series BMW). I’d already been driving for several months in the UK, and for over 20 years in total, so passed the test easily.

My theory on the hand-over-hand vs shuffle-steering is that power steering has been available on all sizes of American cars for longer than in the UK. With power steering it’s less critical to keep your hands at 10 & 2 for maximum control.

12

Driving tests in the UK seem to become more convoluted every year. When I took mine, the separate theory test was fairly new. Now, you need to know basic first aid, how to inspect an engine, change oil, etc.

Driving tests also vary between locations in the UK. I know many in Bolton come to Wigan to be tested, as in addition to being tested on three point turn, parallel park, hill start, emergency stop and reversing around a corner, Bolton also requires an extra manouveur.

13

They have cars in Wigan and Bolton?

Jebus, you’ll be getting 'lectric lights next and running water:D

14

Nicking the stereo? :slight_smile:

15

Or just an emergency exit?

16

Nah, you’re thinking of Liverpool

17

And of course the obligatory question in the theory test :-

“Where should you never park your car ?”

“Liverpool”

I have heard that if you fail you test three times in Germany you have to attend an interview with a psychologist to see if you are ever capable of passing the test.

18

The UK theory est now includes a ‘hazard’ spotting section. An interactive DVD is used and the candidate sits in front of acomputor monitor.

A short video clip is played and sometime in this clip a hazard will arise which is likely to require intervention from the driver ( but not always).
The candidate has to press a button as soon as they become aware of the hazard, points are awarded on a decreasing basis for an increasing delay in spotting the hazard. You are not allowed to hit the button too soon.

I can’t remember how many clips there are, at least 14 or 15 and you have to score above some mark to pass.

Interestingly, good competant drivers can fail this because they spot the hazards too early, on one a the driver is waiting in the road to make a turn across traffic flow, and a cyclist coming the other way turns into the same road that driver is intending to use. Any competant driver would immediately make note of this cyclist as it won’t take long to catch them up, but in the test the candidate has to wait untill they have turned across the traffic and making their way along this new road.
The theory test is still pretty easy, as long as you read the book and work the examples, but the pass percentage has gone up.

The practical test has quite a lot of possible manouevers, but the examiner will only select a few of these, the candidate doesn’t know which ones will be chosen and so must be capable in all of them.
You are allowed a few minor errors, but the standard has gone up, you are not allowed as many mistakes as you once were, a major error is a straight fail.

An example of a minor error could be indicating a turn too late or too soon, as long as this in itself did not cause another driver to have to take avoiding action - then it would be a major error, other minor errors would be poor gear changes, failing to secure the car in the right sequence when pulling up.
A straight fail could be for something as small as catching the kerb with the tyre sidewall when parking - especially in reverse.

The bike test is very much harder, only 33% pass first time.

19

It is interesting to hear the current requirements for a driving test in the UK. I took my test in England in 1977 and am quite pleased that I have a licence until I turn 70. (I don’t have the photo type so I don’t know if that presents any sort of problem.) It took me three tries as well finally passing on the only Friday the 13th in 1977. A few months later I was back in the States and took my test which was over and passed almost before I knew it.

My family was in England with my Dad’s job and the several US employees and spouses all had to take the test. One guy failed because he was too cocky. This gave the others great ammunition to tease him for several years after.

I get back to the UK about every 5 years for holiday and hire a car for a lot of driving. Although I always bring my British licence I’ve never shown it, instead always using my US license for signing up.

20

For clarification: in the U.S., drivers licenses are issued by state, so each state has its own rules, its own renewal period. Most states do require some sort of renewal, such as every five years up until some maximum age (like 70) and then on a more frequent basis. In theory, a person who fails their test will not get their license renewed; in practice, most testers find ways to let people re-take and re-take and re-take until they finally pass, which means there are a lot of people on the road who shouldn’t be (under my definition of “shouldn’t.”)